


The Snowman

by froxyn



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-12
Updated: 2009-01-12
Packaged: 2017-10-08 19:59:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froxyn/pseuds/froxyn





	The Snowman

Title: The Snowman  
Author: Froxyn  
Rating: FRAO  
Pairing: Buffy/Giles  
Timeline: S5'ish. No Dawn, no Riley. AU.  
Synopsis: There's snow, there's alcohol.   
Author's Note: Written for the Drunk!Giles Ficathon, fic specs given by [antennapedia](http://antennapedia.livejournal.com). Special thanks to [wyvernwolf](http://wyvernwolf.livejournal.com) for everything!

 

"What the 'ell is a 'champagne supernova'?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him. "How am I supposed to know?"

"You were the one singin' it." Giles answered, his words slurred as he concentrated on staying upright.

"Yeah, because I like the song. Doesn't mean I know what it means."

He stopped suddenly and stared at her. "Songs should make sense."

"Not all of them do." She replied with a shrug as she tugged on his arm to get him moving again. "Besides, I figured that a 'champagne supernova' was some English thing."

He snorted, grabbing a handful of snow from the top of a bush as they passed it. "If it were an 'English thing', I'd understand it."

"Uh-huh…because you're so good like that. And we didn't come out here to play music trivia, you know." She ducked quickly, laughing as the sloppily made snowball flew harmlessly over her head. "Great shot, Giles."

Giles stumbled as he walked along the path in the woods. Buffy grabbed him before he fell, giggling as he glared at her.

"You're so drunk."

"And sober, you are." He replied, his glare softening slightly.

Buffy snorted. "A Jedi Master, you're not. So don't talk like one."

"Didn't mean to." He answered sincerely, snow crunching under his feet as he stumbled again. "Bloody 'ell. Need to have words with that boy."

Buffy smiled as she slipped her arm around his waist. "He was just trying to help, Giles."

Giles stopped walking and glanced back towards the camp before meeting her eyes. "By getting me drunk? Me being drunk helps no one, Buffy."

"Giles…"

He shook his head and looked around. The trees here were covered in snow and they were nearly half a mile from the campsite.

"How much snow did she give you?"

Buffy tilted her head, placing her left hand on his chest. "Us. She gave it to us, all of us. You know it doesn't snow here. And she overheard you saying how much you love the snow."

"An' the alcohol?"

She offered him a smile as her eyes darted to his lips. "Lowers inhibitions."

"Don' need alcohol for that, Buffy. Have you."

Her hand slid up his chest to the back of his neck, slowly drawing him down to her lips as she looked into his eyes and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"But they don't know that, Giles."

"Should tell 'em." He whispered back, half a second before she captured his lips with hers.

He felt himself moving as her tongue probed his mouth, and knew she was pushing him backwards. Where she was pushing him to, he had no idea. But, he trusted her not to let him fall.

He grunted as his back hit a tree. He groaned as he felt her fingers unbuckle his belt before unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. He pulled from the kiss, resting the back of his head against the rough bark of the tree as her hand curled around his erection.

"Christ, Buffy…" He slurred as her thumb rubbed over the glistening head.

"I love how hard you get for me." She whispered lustfully as she fell to her knees in the snow in front of him.

He shook his head and stared drunkenly at her. "No, Buffy…"

She looked up, raising an eyebrow at him as her hand continued to slowly stroke his hard flesh. "We've done this before, Giles."

"I'm drunk. There's snow." His fingertips lightly brushed her cheek. "Warm snow, which is…odd."

"We're in California, Giles. And…it's magic snow, not real snow."

"Is still snow…you'll get wet." He breathed as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy her touch for just a few more moments.

"I'm already wet…have been all day thinking about tonight."

His eyes snapped open. "T'night?"

"Mm-hm." She murmured, dragging her tongue along the underside of his erection. "You, me, one tent, two sleeping bags joined together…"

"Xander…Willow…" He swallowed as his eyes glazed with desire. "Anya…Tara…"

"Two other tents…pretty sure they'll be busy themselves." Buffy stated softly, looking up at him as his fingers combed through her hair. "Now…you gonna let me finish this?"

Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Giles turned his head and furrowed his brow. "We're bein' watched…by…um…a snowman?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, but turned her head in the direction that he was looking anyway. Her eyes narrowed as she searched the area, quickly shoving his erection back into his jeans as she stood.

"I don't see anything."

He grunted softly at the unintentional roughness of her touch. She looked up at him quickly, regret showing in her hazel eyes.

"God, I'm sorry, Giles! Are you okay?"

Giving her a quick nod, he carefully readjusted himself and buttoned and zipped his jeans. "Snowman's gone."

Buffy sighed heavily and took his hand, pulling him forward. "And took the moment with him."

His feet shuffled forward, the toe of his hiking boot hitting an exposed tree root and sending him off balance. Buffy grabbed at him, but his momentum knocked them both to the ground. She could smell the whiskey on his breath as he supported himself above her, his hands buried in the warm snow on either side of her head.

"Sure about that, love?"

She shivered as she felt his erection press against her thigh. "Giles…"

His eyes darted to her chest, swallowing thickly as he watched her nipples tighten under her shirt. "Cold?"

"It's not cold, Giles." She whispered, slipping her hands underneath the sweater he was wearing.

Shifting his weight onto his left hand, he slid his right under her shirt to cup a satin-covered breast. "This is odd."

She arched against his touch, lightly scraping her nails across his back. "What?"

"Snow shouldn't be warm. It's…everything about it is right. Consistency, texture…it's just not cold. And that's odd. Lying here, jeans wet from melting snow…you should be shivering from cold, not from my touch."

Dropping her left hand to the ground, she grabbed a handful of the snow in question. She let it slip through her fingers when she realized that rubbing warm snow over his chest would not have the same effect as normal, non-magic snow would.

"You seem to be sobering up…"

He grinned at her as he lightly shook his head. "I feel like I'm becoming more inbre…intosk…drunk."

She moaned softly as she wrapped her legs over his hips, delighting in his involuntary reaction of thrusting against her. "Most drunk people aren't coordinated enough to do that."

He gently pinched her nipple before slipping his hand out from under her shirt. "Concentratin'."

She raised an eyebrow at him, her fingers dancing along his sides. "On what?"

"You." He licked his lips as he lowered his mouth to hers, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "Christ, I want you."

Just before his lips touched hers, his head snapped towards the left, eyes narrowing. "What the…"

Buffy followed his gaze, whimpering as he pushed himself up and knelt between her thighs. "Giles, what is it?"

"I…I can't do this here. Not with _him_ watching."

Buffy lifted her head and scanned their surroundings, but still didn't see anything out of the ordinary, not counting the snow of course. "Him, who?"

"The snowman. 'e's back." Giles slurred, grabbing Buffy's hand and pulling her up to sit next to him.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the snowman disappeared. Giles could've sworn that the snowman had winked at him before it vanished.

"An'…now 'e's gone."

"Uh-huh…I think we should get you back to camp." Buffy stated, amusement in her tone. "I think the pink elephants have arrived."

Giles looked at her quickly, arching an eyebrow at her. "El'phants?"

Buffy chuckled as she stood, carefully helping him up to stand beside of her. He stumbled drunkenly, smiling gratefully when she kept him from falling back onto the snow-covered ground.

"I s'pose it does sound silly. Phantom snowman watchin' us…perhaps I did 'ave too much to drink."

Buffy nodded, steadying him before leading him back towards the camp. "It's not just the phantom snowman that makes me think you've had too much."

"Hm?" He wanted to look down at her, but was too busy concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without losing his balance.

"Your accent changes when you're drunk. I think you forget that the letter h is actually in the alphabet."

He snorted, this time he did look at her. And this time he did stumble and fall.

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes as she bent to help him back up.

When they got back to camp, she was going to kill Xander Harris…maybe not literally, but he was definitely going to know that she wasn't exactly thrilled that her Watcher was too drunk to walk. And seemingly too drunk to do anything else.

* * *

"It could be a demon." Anya stated as she glanced at Willow. "I mean, this isn't natural snow. Maybe something evil came with it."

Willow narrowed her eyes. "You're saying that I created an evil snowman?"

Anya shrugged. "Who knows? We should probably go check for footprints."

When Giles snorted a laugh, a cup of black coffee in his hands, everyone turned to look at him. Tara tilted her head slightly.

"You don't think we should track it?"

Giles gestured vaguely towards the path. " 'ave at it. But, you're not gonna find any footprints."

Xander furrowed his brow, leaning forward slightly. "Why not?"

Giles took a sip of the coffee and spoke in a tone that stated his reasoning should be perfectly obvious.

"Snowmen 'ave no feet."

Buffy sighed and took the mug from Giles' hands. "Come on, you need to go to bed and sleep it off."

"Or…work it off." He mumbled as she pulled him up from the log he was sitting on.

Buffy quickly glanced at the others, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized that they hadn't heard him. She spoke in a barely audible tone, slipping her arm around him as she led him towards the tent.

"Watch your tongue, Giles."

He looked down at her, his eyes darkening as he kept his voice a low murmur. "Would much rather watch yours."

Xander looked up as Buffy stumbled. "Hey, you guys okay?"

Buffy turned and met his eyes, annoyance showing in hers. "Yeah. Why don't _you_ try to pretty much carry a six foot one drunk man through the snow."

Xander blushed lightly. "I didn't realize he had as much as he did, Buffy. I really am sorry."

"We'll discuss this later. Right now, I have to get him to bed."

"Yes, you do." Giles whispered, his fingers flexing against her shoulder.

Her eyes darted to his. "Giles…"

"We…should tell 'em."

Buffy's eyes widened as she shook her head, quickly pushing him towards the tent and leaving four fairly confused people sitting around the campfire. Though it was warm, Xander had insisted on a campfire. Something about it being a compulsory part of camping.

"No, we shouldn't tell them. Not right now, not like this." She stated quietly as she zipped the door flap of the tent shut.

"Buffy…"

She pushed him down onto the sleeping bags and shook her head again as she knelt at his feet and untied his boot laces. "No, you're drunk and we haven't – "

"I love you." He whispered.

She looked up at him as she dropped his left boot onto the tent floor. "And I love you. We can tell them tomorrow…when you're sober…if you want."

"I want." He replied, closing his eyes briefly to stop the tent from spinning. "I want so much."

Removing his other boot, she gently pushed him onto his back and moved to sit next to him, running her fingers through his hair. "Tell me what you want, Giles."

"I want everyone to know how much I love you. I want to stop hiding our relationship. I want my bed to be _our_ bed…and I want you in it every night. But, more than anything…I want…"

She looked at him curiously when he trailed off and closed his eyes. "Giles? What do you want more than anything?"

He swallowed and forced his eyes open slightly. "For this bloody tent to stop spinning."

Buffy chuckled softly and lovingly rubbed her thumb over his brow. "Close your eyes, honey. Get some sleep…I'll go keep the others company."

He licked his dry lips and looked into her eyes. "You'll be back? Tonight, I mean?"

Leaning over him, she pressed her lips to his warm forehead. "I'll be back, I promise."

"Love you." He mumbled sleepily, the alcohol quickly pushing him towards slumber.

"I love you too. Rest now."

Just as she unzipped the door, she heard him whisper her name. She turned around to find his unfocused eyes staring in her direction.

"Yeah?"

"There _was_ a snowman watchin' us. Wasn't 'maginin' it."

"We'll keep an eye out for it. But, you rest."

"Mm-hm." He sighed softly and closed his eyes again. "Restin'…"

A smile played over her lips as she stepped out of the tent and zipped the door flap shut before making her way back over to the others.

Xander looked up as Buffy approached them. "Is he okay?"

Her smile faded just long enough for Xander to be worried…and then she chuckled. "Yeah, he's okay. He's probably going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning, though."

"He should have an orgasm before he goes to sleep."

Xander closed his eyes. Tara blushed heavily. Willow's mouth dropped open. Buffy merely raised an eyebrow at Anya.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we've found that if Xander gets really drunk, he feels much better the next morning if – "

"Anya! For God's sake, please do not finish that statement!" Xander spoke quickly, his dark eyes pleading with his girlfriend.

Anya shrugged a shoulder and smiled. Willow closed her mouth and regarded Buffy carefully.

"Um…you don't really seem all that bothered by that idea." Willow stated softly.

"Huh?" Buffy looked at her quickly, her mind scrambling to come up with anything. "Oh, I was just thinking about this snowman that Giles said he saw."

Willow and Tara exchanged a knowing look and a grin. Xander couldn't stop himself from looking around their campsite as he spoke.

"You didn't see it, huh?"

"No. No, I didn't." Buffy bit her lip, hoping that Anya wouldn't ask _why_ she didn't see it. "But, he's pretty adamant about the fact that it really was out there. Maybe I should go have a look around."

"Probably not alone." Xander added, standing up and brushing the snow from his jeans. "I'll go with you."

Buffy chuckled softly. "Xander, it's a _snowman_. If there is even anything out there. He's so drunk, he probably imagined it."

Xander shoved his left hand into his pocket. "Haven't you ever seen Jack Frost?"

"The 'nipping at your nose' guy?" Buffy asked with a smile on her face.

Xander rolled his eyes. "No, the serial killer who was mutated into a snowman and started killing people to get his revenge."

Buffy's stared at him incredulously. "Where do you see these movies? And…you do realize how completely ridiculous that sounds, right?"

"Yeah. About as ridiculous as a vampire with a soul helping the people of Los Angeles and a professor building a soldier out of a man and demon pieces parts and a demon being scanned into the internet and encouraging people to kill for him. But, you know what? Ridiculous things can happen sometimes."

"Fine, you can come with me." Buffy exhaled slowly. "Willow, can you and Tara put up some kind of magic barrier or something to keep you guys safe while we're gone? You know…just in case."

Anya's eyes were wide. "Yeah, can you? I don't like the idea of a serial killer snowman running loose in these woods. Especially with Giles too drunk to do anything."

Willow rolled her eyes at Anya's melodramatics. "And who do we have to thank for Giles' condition?"

Tara smiled warmly and nodded as she placed her hand on Willow's arm. "We can do it, Buffy. And we'll keep an eye on Mr. Giles while you're gone."

Buffy thought that Tara's comment about keeping an eye on Giles was a little odd, but didn't mention it. "Okay, thanks. We won't be long."

She looked at Xander and fought back the urge to smile when he walked over to his car and opened the trunk, pulling out a large bottle filled with green liquid. "Antifreeze?"

Xander raised an eyebrow, pointing a finger at her. "Laugh now, but it was the only thing that killed Jack in the movie."

At that, she did laugh. "Come on. The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can be back."

Tara glanced at Willow, whispering as Buffy walked off down the path with Xander.

"And the quicker she can get back to Mr. Giles."

Willow smiled brightly, taking Tara's hand and setting to work on the barrier around the camp.

* * *

Giles groggily opened his eyes when he felt someone slip into the sleeping bag next to him. "Buffy?"

She smiled and leaned over, gently kissing his lips. "Expecting anyone else?"

"No." He whispered and then groaned softly. "Jesus, I'm going to feel like shit in the morning."

Buffy thought of Anya's statement earlier and slid her hand down his torso, somewhat surprised to find him completely nude. "Um…when did you get undressed?"

He focused on her eyes and licked his lips, the taste of stale whiskey thick on his tongue. "I honestly don't know. How long were you gone?"

"A while…longer than I wanted to be." She admitted softly, brushing her fingers along his hip.

"Everything alright?" He asked, his voice growing husky.

"Yeah. Xander was just worried about mutant snowmen."

His fingers had just edged under the hem of the t-shirt that she had apparently dug out of his bag to wear to bed. His hand stilled on her skin as his brow furrowed.

"Mutant snowmen?"

She chuckled softly and leaned into him, placing a warm kiss on his chest. "Mm-hm. Some movie or something he'd seen. No mutant snowmen found though. All's clear."

Inhaling sharply, his fingers slid over her bare hip. "Maybe it _was_ my mind playing tricks on me again."

"Maybe." She whispered, placing a line of kisses across his chest and up towards his throat. "Maybe not. You were pretty certain of things. How's your head?"

"Throbbing at the moment. By morning, I'm rather certain I'll be begging you to stake me to put me out of my misery." He lifted his hand, touching her cheek as she raised her head and met his eyes. "I'm sorry. This…this isn't exactly how I imagined tonight."

She offered him a loving smile as she carefully straddled him, resting on his upper thighs as she leaned down and dropped a kiss onto his lips.

"And…how did you imagine tonight?"

His hands automatically moved to her thighs, moving upwards until they grasped her hips. "Buffy…"

Buffy licked her lips and sat up, her fingers lightly stroking his chest hair. "Anya says that an orgasm helps keep away hangovers."

Giles' hands tightened, his eyes widening. "What?"

"Oh…uh…she was talking about Xander, not about us. 'Cause she doesn't know about us. But, it might help. I mean, if you…you probably don't feel like it…what with the being drunk and all…"

His grip loosened, his heart calming as she trailed off. He cleared his throat and smiled nervously.

"I wouldn't say that I'm drunk now and I, uh…vaguely remember something about telling you certain wants I have."

"Yeah…" She whispered, her memories not so vague. "So…has the tent stopped spinning?"

"I want to tell them, Buffy." He answered instead. "I love you so much…and if I were to be very honest, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep my feelings a secret from them."

She smiled softly, shifting slightly to rub her core against his hardening cock. "So…we tell them tomorrow?"

He groaned and slid his hands further up her sides, pushing the t-shirt up with his movements. "Yes…God, yes…"

Moving her right hand from his chest and gently placing her fingers over his lips, her smile grew. "Of course…they'll find out tonight if you're not quiet."

His eyes darkened as she pulled her fingers from his lips and reached between them, guiding his erection into her. "Then…perhaps you should find a way to keep me quiet."

She bit her lip as he filled her, stifling her groan and causing him to smile at her.

"Or…perhaps we should find a way to keep one another quiet."

She stared down at him through desire-glazed eyes, a small drop of blood forming on her bottom lip as she shivered.

"Never…never knew how…hard it could be…"

He pushed himself up, his eyes darting to her bottom lip as he leaned forward and kissed her softly. His tongue gently wiped the blood away before he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"Never knew how hard what could be, Buffy?" He whispered as he slowly pushed the t-shirt she was wearing over her head and dropped it to the tent floor.

Draping her arms over his shoulders, she let her fingers play with his hair as she sighed. "Being quiet. I never had trouble being quiet with anyone before…"

He smiled broadly and slid his hands back to her hips, using his touch to urge her into motion. "I would like to believe that has something to do with…"

She rocked against him, licking her lips as he trailed off. "With you being great in bed? Yeah, that's part of it… 'cause you really are."

He wanted to lean back, and nearly did before he remembered that there wouldn't be a headboard to hold him up. Glancing to his left, he saw his large duffel bag and grabbed it. When she realized what he was doing, she helped him move it behind him.

As he leaned back carefully, she raised her hand to his cheek in a loving gesture. "Okay?"

"Mm-hm…you?" He whispered as she started to rock against him again.

"God, yeah…" She moaned as she lowered her mouth to the side of his neck.

His eyes closed, his hands roaming over her back as he moved with her. "Buffy?"

"Hm?" She mumbled against his neck, the fingers of her left hand finding the nipple closest to it.

"You…you said that my being…good…in bed was _part_ of it."

She lifted her head and smiled, gently pinching his hardened nipple between her fingers. "No. I actually said you were _great_ in bed. But, even that's not right. You're amazing…in or out of the bed."

He gasped at her contact, his hips thrusting upwards in response. "Christ…"

Sucking in a sharp breath, she increased her pace. "I'm in love with you...that's the main reason."

His hands moved back to her hips, moving with her as she rode him. Knowing that he couldn't keep quiet for much longer, and suspecting she was in a similar predicament, he covered her mouth with his and plunged his tongue between her lips.

She slid her hands back to his shoulders, gripping him tightly as she moaned into his mouth.

Her orgasm built quickly and he allowed his to follow her over the edge, a growl rumbling in his chest as he concentrated on not tearing his mouth from hers and screaming her name as he normally did. Her body trembled as he held her tight against his chest, his tongue tenderly stroking hers instead of plunging obscenely into her mouth.

When she felt him soften within her, she raised up enough to let him slip out. She sighed at the loss and ended the kiss, resting her forehead against his as they both fought to catch their breath.

"Move in with me."

She pulled back, her eyes widening at his soft whisper. "What?"

"Move in with me. Help me turn my bed into _our_ bed." He swallowed nervously as he brushed the hair back from her face. "I'm sure that was one of the 'wants' I listed last night for you."

"I…I thought that was because you were drunk…"

"Yes, but as I stated earlier, I'm not drunk now…well, not as drunk as I was. I would imagine you would consider me slightly tipsy, but – "

"Giles, you're rambling." She interrupted, still staring at him in disbelief.

He sighed softly, looking deep into her eyes. "The point is…I want us to live together. I want to go to sleep with you every night…wake up with you every morning. Maybe wake you up during the night once in a while…"

He offered her a smile, trailing his fingers down her cheek. "I'm in love with you too, Buffy. I don't think either of us are ready for marriage…and we may never be. But…I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She was quiet for a moment before moving off of him. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her lay down next to him. Rolling onto her back, she took a deep breath and then smiled.

"Come here, Giles."

He lowered himself to the sleeping bags underneath them and leaned over her, brushing his lips across hers as his left hand slipped between her damp and still-quivering thighs.

"Will you move in with me, Buffy?"

She nearly chuckled at his tentatively asked question. Instead, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and returned his gentle kiss.

"Yeah, I will." Running her fingers through his slightly damp hair, she sighed in contentment. "How's your head?"

He glanced at her lips, swollen and red from their kisses. "Not throbbing. Perhaps Anya's remedy is a valid one."

Buffy's eyes flickered as his fingers brushed through her wet curls to find her sensitive clitoris. "Maybe we should try again…you know, just to make sure."

He grinned and pushed his middle finger into her as his thumb lightly pressed against her clit. When she moaned a little louder than she had intended, he covered her mouth with his.

It wouldn't do for them to ruin the surprise they were going to give the others in the morning.

* * *

When Giles woke Buffy up, the sun had just risen…the snow had disappeared at some point during the night. He had made love to her slowly, whispering his love for her into her ear and capturing her soft cries and moans with his kisses.

Afterwards, they had gotten dressed and decided to go for a walk. Their walk was more for the purpose of freely discussing their plans of revealing their relationship to their friends than anything else. They strolled along the path, lush green grass on either side of the worn walkway, their arms around one another.

When they made their way back to the campsite, Giles was a little surprised to find the other four up and milling about. Xander looked up and grinned.

"Up early looking for Jack Frost?"

Giles furrowed his brow in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

Buffy rolled her eyes at Xander and then looked up at Giles. "Remember that mutant snowman theory Xander had? In the movie, his name was Jack Frost."

"Oh." Giles answered uncertainly. "Um, no. There is no snow, therefore…no snowman."

Anya tilted her head and regarded Giles. "So, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Surprisingly well, thank you." He answered with a smile.

"Oh…had an orgasm last night before you went to sleep then?"

Giles' smile faltered. Xander lowered his eyes and shook his head. Willow snorted a soft laugh while Tara blushed. Buffy merely smiled before answering Anya's question.

"Two actually."

Xander's eyes snapped up as Giles' lowered, his skin reddening. Willow's mouth dropped open as Tara smiled. Anya raised an eyebrow, her grin widening.

And just like that, Buffy and Giles' relationship was out in the open. Questions began pouring forth, most of which Buffy and Giles took turns answering after they sat down on a log. However, most of Anya's questions remained unanswered.

* * *

Later that afternoon, as they were pulling down the tents and packing up their belongings, Giles heard Xander call his name. He allowed his eyes to roam over Buffy's backside as she bent over to pull a stake from the ground before clearing his throat.

"Yes?"

Hearing the gravelled tone of his voice, Buffy stood up and arched an eyebrow at him. He merely shrugged a shoulder and gave her the half-smile that she loved so.

"Um…I think this is for you…"

Giles turned to find Xander holding a lump of coal and a carrot in one hand, an envelope in the other. Buffy's eyes widened as she followed Giles over to Xander.

Giles eyed the items Xander held as he took the envelope and quickly opened it. Xander looked at Buffy and shrugged as Giles read the note that he had pulled from the envelope.

"So, I'm guessin' Jack Frost wasn't Giles' drunk imagination."

"And his name wasn't Jack Frost." Giles answered, exasperation evident in his voice.

Buffy looked up at him as he handed the note to her. "There are only two people who can make you sound like that. And…I didn't leave you a note."

Giles exhaled deeply and looked at Xander. "Help me load the tents into the cars."

"Okay…" Xander replied slowly, but dropped the coal and carrot and picked up one of the rolled tents. He was curious, but past experience had taught him never to ask too many questions when Giles was exasperated. "No problem."

Giles looked down at Buffy just as she had finished reading the note. She offered him a small wry smile as she folded the piece of paper and slipped it back into the envelope.

"Well, at least now we have an explanation."

"Mm." Giles mumbled. "This is deserving of a thrashing for Ethan."

Buffy chuckled, handing the envelope back to him. "It's not his fault that he got snowmanified when Will did the spell."

"No, but – " He stopped himself and stared at her. "Snowmanified?"

"What would you call it?" She asked seriously.

He thought for a moment, running his hand through his hair. "Well, I…nothing, actually. As far as I know, this is the first time that a live human being has been transformed into a living snowman."

"So, what's wrong with saying that he was snowmanified?"

"I suppose there's nothing wrong with it. But, him being…um…snowmanified…isn't the reason he deserves a thrashing."

"Well…he didn't make me forget I'm the Slayer, he didn't send a demon to kill me instead of him, he didn't give you cursed chocolate, and he didn't turn you into a demon. He should've been thrashed for all of those."

"He received a decent one for the first two incidents." Giles responded softly.

When she tilted her head, a silent question in her eyes, he sighed. "He tried to hurt you."

Buffy felt a rush of love for him sweep through her. "So, this time…he shows up to cause a bit of mischief and gets snowmanified before he can do anything. He can't tell you what happened because snowmen can't talk…"

Giles chuckled at the absurdity of her statement. She smiled and continued.

"And then he decides to watch us for a while."

Giles blushed lightly. "Well, he always did like to watch."

Buffy slid her hand up his chest, her smile widening as his arms moved around her. "He waits it out…becomes human again once the spell ends. Comes back to find you…and you're a bit…um, preoccupied. So, he leaves a note…not very Ethan-like."

He thought for a moment before bending his head and brushing his lips across hers. "Actually, it's very much like him."

When she started to question him, he shook his head and slid his hands down to her hips as he kissed her again.

"I'll explain that statement later. Right now, I think I'd like to concentrate on the beautiful woman in my life."

She smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That'd be me, right?"

He laughed gently as he lowered his mouth to hers, not bothering to answer her question with words. Instead, he answered with his actions…his tongue lovingly stroking hers, his hands tightening on her hips and pressing her body against his own. When her nails lightly scratched the back of his neck, he seriously considered dropping to the ground and pulling her down with him.

What stopped him were the sounds behind him. Willow's gasp, Tara's startled 'oh', Xander's groan, Anya's snort.

They reluctantly pulled apart, gazing into one another's eyes. An unspoken promise drifted between them.

Tonight. Home. _Their_ home. With no alcohol to put a damper on their plans.

Tonight seemed like such a long way away to Buffy. She wanted him now and it was fairly obvious that he felt the same. But, she'd wait…as patiently as she possibly could.

Unless Giles decided to pull off onto some deserted road on the way back.

Giles read the thought as it flashed in her hazel eyes and grinned. He distinctly remembered a dirt road that veered off the highway about ten miles outside of Sunnydale.

Surely no one would notice if they were a few minutes late getting back.

And he was rather sure that he didn't care if they did notice.

 

~ End

 

Three things that antennapedia wanted:

1\. Drunken fun in vast quantities of snow  
2\. Someone as a teasing mischief-maker (Ethan? Xander? Spike? Your favorite character?)  
3\. Wet jeans

Three things that antennapedia didn't want:

1\. Sentimentality  
2\. Unhappiness  
3\. Frostbite


End file.
